Latest / Life Without a Filter: Practical Strategies for Life After 22 / Episode 16: Getting Ready-- how we prep for the annual ISP Meeting

Transcript

Episode 16: Getting Ready-- how we prep for the annual ISP Meeting · Life Without a Filter: Practical Strategies for Life After 22

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hi everyone! I hope that you are enjoying these long summer days.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard to believe that school is starting back up for me in a couple of weeks, so I am enjoying this downtime as much as I can.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: But today I'm going to walk you through how we prepared for the ISP meeting, what documents we gathered ahead of time, and what you can expect before, during, and after the meeting.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you're new to this process, especially if you're coming straight from the IEP world, this can feel overwhelming.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: While there are similarities to the IEP, the ISP process is different in some important ways.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Quick note: while this episode focuses specifically on the ISP process in Massachusetts through DDS, the planning strategies I'm sharing, like how to prepare, what to gather, and how to center your adult child's goals, are relevant no matter which state you're in.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get started.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Another quick note: if you are listening to this on the podcast and want to actually see the documents that I am talking about, you can either hop on over to my YouTube channel to watch this episode, or you can visit my blog, which will have all of the links to what I am discussing today.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: The links for both of those will be in the show notes.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start at the beginning.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: What is the ISP?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: ISP stands for Individual Support Plan.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: At its core, it's a written plan that documents your adult child's vision, their goals, and the supports and services needed to reach those goals.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Unlike the IEP, which is school driven, the ISP is adult service driven and should be grounded in your adult child's priorities.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: I break down this entire process into three parts.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Pre-meeting work, during the meeting, and after the meeting.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start with what I personally think is the most important piece, preparation before the meeting.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: The document that drives everything is the person-centered plan.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like a broken record sometimes, but I bring it up so often because I passionately believe that this is the most important planning tool.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because without this, your child's choice and voice is not at the forefront of the planning process.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: For Elle, this plan summarizes his past year, identifies his goals for the upcoming year, and centers his voice.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: As I have mentioned before, we use the Charting the Life Course Person-Centered Plan.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: If you are watching on YouTube, I am showing you the website home page.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: This is a free website.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: And if you look under the Life Course library, you will see all of the tabs that link you to all of the different resources that you can download.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: They also have videos explaining each of the sections.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: There are many other person-centered plans to choose from, and if you need help choosing a person-centered planning model or incorporating assistive technology, you can reach out to me through the link in the show notes.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Once your person has completed the person-centered plan, all of that information will be transferred into the ISP.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Information about the vision statement, current supports, successes and positive events, challenges, emerging issues, and unmet needs will be taken from the person-centered plan and placed into those corresponding sections in the ISP.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: But the most important section is the goals and objectives section, since this is the meat of your person's programming needs.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: If you are new to learning about person-centered planning, you can check out my previous episode and blog post on this topic.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: The links are listed below in the show notes.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: The next item that your support broker will ask you to complete before the in-person meeting is the individual safety assessment.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to pull this form up on the screen now.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: It documents safety concerns, supports, and supervision needs.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is a five-page document, and you can see that in part one they are yes-no questions.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Part two is also yes-no questions, and it leaves you a section to add comments.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: And part three, the home safety checklist, asks you to identify if the person does not use those devices, if they can use them safely, or if they are unsafe to use.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: It also breaks down if they need to use those devices with supervision or without supervision.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: And there is a section at the end that asks you to describe any other concerns that affects the individual's safety at home.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: We completed this with L and it helps highlight any areas that may need to be incorporated as goals or to identify any safety supports that are needed.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: If safety concerns are identified, a more detailed safety plan may be developed.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: This helps the team clearly outline risks, supports, teaching strategies, and accommodations.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: If your child had a BIP or a BSP, a behavior intervention or behavior support plan in school, you can also use this as a baseline and edit as needed for the new environment the programming needs will be taken place in.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: The next document we update is the circle of care.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: This documents who is involved in your adult child's life and in what capacity.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Even if your planning model doesn't name it explicitly, it's an important tool.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: I've written about this topic in a previous blog post, so I am going to link it in the show notes so that you can access it.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: The next thing we look at are both informal and formal assessments.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: When Elle was still in school, his team would complete both formal and informal transition assessments during the IEP process.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: We also had a private transition evaluation completed before he aged out to help us plan for his future programming needs.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now that he is in adult services, we use informal assessments to track daily living skills and independence.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: I will be doing a future episode on the different informal assessments and resources that can be used for adults, so stay tuned.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: If this is your first ISP, this next form is not applicable to you.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: But moving forward, your support broker will ask you to complete the ISP progress summary form.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Think of this like the ISP version of the IEP progress notes.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Team members will document the current goals, the progress that has been made, and the next steps.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you're watching on YouTube, I have this form pulled up right now so you can see what it looks like.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: For this, I ask L's staff who are working with him on those specific goals to contribute to the progress summary form.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: This year, I am going to incorporate a way for the team to document notes on a monthly basis so that we can just pull that information together for the mid and yearly progress reports.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: While this last step is something that you don't have to do, this is something that I do.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: I take a look at a blank ISP and complete a draft.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: I use the person-centered plan, progress summaries, and the safety documentation to fill in the information on the ISP form.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: So if it's not required, why do I do this?
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: For me, it makes the actual meeting much smoother and it keeps it focused on meaningful discussion.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Again, this is not something that you have to do, but if you can take a look at it before your first meeting, I think that it will be very helpful for you.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, now that you have prepared for the meeting, let's talk about what happens during the meeting.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: I am speaking from the perspective of what happens during our meeting, so while your meeting may not look exactly the same, we are all filling out the same ISP form.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Our meetings occur in our home and usually last about an hour with Elle present.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: The support broker and I then spend about another half hour going over any of the business aspects since I am acting as the EOR.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: At the beginning of the meeting, Elle first presents his person-centered plan using a Google slide he created using his assistive technology supports.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Again, this keeps his voice front end center.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: After he presents his person-centered plan, we next review the goals for the upcoming year based on his person-centered plan, and those get documented in the ISP.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: The support broker will review the safety plan with you and discuss any concerns.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: Then the support broker will go page by page to fill in the ISP.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Again, if you've done a person-centered plan and have done a draft ISP, this helps move the process along.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: If there are any additions or changes to supports based on the new goals, those will be brought up here.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: And if there are any changes or additions to the program, this will be discussed related to staffing and budget needs.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: After the meeting, you'll receive from your support broker the completed ISP, approval forms, the plan of care, and information about amendments if changes occur.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: I receive these as an email, and there are documents that you need to sign and date and return to your support broker.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions or need to appeal any decisions that were made, you can also do that and the information will be listed on those various forms.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: If this feels like a lot, especially if you're coming straight from the IEP world, you're not doing anything wrong.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: The ISP process has a learning curve and preparation is what makes it feel manageable.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I wanted to do this episode.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: I also created an ISP meeting checklist to help you stay organized and not feel so overwhelmed.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: So be sure to request a copy of the ISP meeting checklist linked in the show notes and explore the resources that I've shared.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to talk through your specific situation, you can also reach out to me using the form in the show notes.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Preparation doesn't mean having all the answers.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: It means showing up with your adult child's vision clearly documented.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Breaking this process down into manageable steps, being prepared, and asking questions allows you to be a strong advocate for your adult child or client and helping them set their plan for the upcoming year.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, thanks for listening.